What did you cook today? Photo thread

[AbleGuy]

Sweet Potato Scones and Pecan Pie Tarts for dessert today.

Scones we’re a mix of sweet potatoes, russet potatoes and sweet onions. Pecan tarts had a thin, buttery shortbread crust. The free range, organic turkey was nothing to brag about though.

 

[The_John_Muir_Way]

Used leftovers to make an old classic school cafeteria- Turkey Slop.

I used up all the celery and carrots, so it's just leftover turkey, Turkey dripping, milk, flour, and some seasoning- over mash.

Had This for lunch and really enjoyed it!

 

[The_John_Muir_Way]

Cajun Chicken Stew

I got inspired by a forum buddy who posted up his mother in laws Creole Chicken Stew.

Chicken thigh
Celery
Bell pepper
Onion
Garlic
Chili
Chicken stock
Cajun seasoning
Salt and pepper
Green onion

Browned the chicken

Browned the roux and then adds the veggies. I chickened put on browning the tux more, things heat up so fast when it's already hot and I was afraid of ruining it and having to start again with little time and hungry bellies to fill.

Everything mingling and percolating

On the plate

 

[The_John_Muir_Way]

A few weeks ago I made my first legit roux and I chickened out with the color development, I didn't get it brown enough in fear it would burn.

Tonight was the rematch. "Man vs Roux II"

I used Isaac Toups (chef and author of "Chasing the Gator: the New Cajun Cooking"

I'm really enjoying the book. It's full of stories of his upbringing and the food culture in Cajun country.

Cooking vessel: Dutch oven.

Roux: 1/2 cup four, 1/2 cup grape seed oil. Stirred until it was the color of milk chocolate, then threw in-

Trinity: Bell pepper, onion, 3 ribs celery- diced. 10 cloves of garlic minced.

Beer to deglaze

Browned chicken thighs (seasoned) in oven for 20 mins and then added it to the Dutch oven alone with 4 bay leaves

Simmered for 1.5 hours, was supposed to be 3 hours but we got hungry. Taste tested a few times and seasoned it with a Cajun spice blend.

Final product:

 

[Todd n Natalie]

First time cooking a Turkey. I was supposed to just cook the Turkey but Covid happened and I had to rush and put together a couple of sides. Very basic spread but hey, gotta adapt.

I used the Turkey bag method and it came out moist. I brined it for 12hrs, should’ve been 48hrs. The drippings made an amazing gravy.

First Turkey completed, it came out pretty decent, I’ll take that as a win. Rib roast for Christmas next.

What did you use for the brine?

I'm off next week so planning on spending more time making dinners. So far I'm thinking:
Turkey Dinner (hence the brine question - your thinking 48 hours?)
Beef oven roast
Chicken Fricassee
Cajun jambalaya
Not sure what else yet for next week.
Tomorrow is pork ribs - low n slow.
Friday is fettuccini with a smoked paprika cream sauce, sundried tomatoes, spinach, mushrooms and chicken.

 

[ITTOG]

My wife feels jipped because I am not into food. If I have to make my food it is usually something simple like PB&j, protein bar, cereal. More than 2 minutes to make. I won't do it. She would love for me to be more like you guys.

Sent from my Pixel 6 Pro using Tapatalk

 

[The_John_Muir_Way]

The last thing I cooked was for NYE and I made BBQ bacon wrapped jumbo
Shrimp. I had left over bacon and I tried the cooking bacon in a skillet with a little water and it came out so crispy! I put bbq sauce over the bacon too and they became bbq bacon chips

Prep work:

Final product:

 

[The_John_Muir_Way]

What did you use for the brine?

I'm off next week so planning on spending more time making dinners. So far I'm thinking:
Turkey Dinner (hence the brine question - your thinking 48 hours?)
Beef oven roast
Chicken Fricassee
Cajun jambalaya
Not sure what else yet for next week.
Tomorrow is pork ribs - low n slow.
Friday is fettuccini with a smoked paprika cream sauce, sundried tomatoes, spinach, mushrooms and chicken.

Sorry for the late reply I’m still recovering from
The holidays lol.

i vouch for this turkey brine: https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/85839/out-of-this-world-turkey-brine/

The turkey took 3 days to thaw and then about 2.5 to brine. Everyone raved about it. Even long time turkey cookers complimented it, I might me the turkey cook next


I used to watch endless YouTube videos for recipes because of thedemonstrations but most of the recipes aren’t good. I’ve been using recipiensires with user ratings and reviews.

My wife feels jipped because I am not into food. If I have to make my food it is usually something simple like PB&j, protein bar, cereal. More than 2 minutes to make. I won't do it. She would love for me to be more like you guys.

Sent from my Pixel 6 Pro using Tapatalk

You can do it my friend! It becomes fun, like an experiment. I made a deal with the gf,
She helps with prep and dishes and I’ll do the cooking. It’s fun collecting recipes and equipment and gadgets

 

[The_John_Muir_Way]

Today I bring you two Asian dishes.

First up, a braised prawn w/ roe- cooked in coconut juice, shallots, garlic, fish sauce, brown sugar, paprika, cayenne, garlic powder, and a little chicken bouillon. It’s a childhood favorite of mine.

Now we travel to South Korea for a spicy squid served with udon noodles. We have carrots, green onions, white onion, garlic, Korean chili concoction, soy sauce, and squid.

 

[The_John_Muir_Way]

I haven’t been cooking much lately but tonight I made a deconstructed “California Roll” called a SUSHI BAKE with salmon. It’s kind of a crazy idea- it’s basically a salmon California roll casserole

A mixture of shredded imitation crab meet (1 cup), 2 baked salmon filets (cooked to just barely one) broken up (reserving a 1/4 as topping), a block or cream cheese and 2 tbsp sriracha all mixed together.

Pour mixture over sushi rice in a casserole dish. Bake at 450 for 10-15 mins. You take roasted seaweed paper and make tacos. I used the salmon and baked it in the oven to crisp it up like bacon and then used it as a topping. Add some avocado and you’ll have the best ever california roll.

 

[The_John_Muir_Way]

Tonight I used a recipe from Ethan Becker (Becker Knives) family cookbook, JOY OF COOKING, to make Linguine and Clams.

I wanted to use fresh little neck clams but my local market ran out! Good thing, the recipe had a canned clam variation.

Ingredients:
extra virgin olive oil
Onions (I used shallots)
Garlic
Chili flakes
Dried oregano
(Added fresh Italian parsley, lemon zest and juice)
White wine
Salt and pepper

I mixed in the pasta too rough and it broke into little short strands. I need to be more careful next time. I also shouldn’t saved some pasta water for the sauce

Next time I might add an anchovy to the sauce and definitely make sure I had fresh live clams.

 

[The_John_Muir_Way]

For tonight’s dinner, I worked in tandem with my girlfriend and we took our taste buds to the far East, to Japan.

She made a Japanese curry. From what I understand, curry originated in India and made its way throughout Asia. I’ve always liked Thai curry growing up and then I enjoyed indian and Japanese curry. They’re all very different.

My job was the deep fried pork lion, encrusted with panko bread crumbs. I fried up 6 of them so I experimented with different seasonings. The pork all had salt and pepper, but for some I added chicken powder or garlic powder.

I used flour, egg, and panko for the crust. Fried up in peanut oil.

I made a quick Japanese coleslaw. We made Japanese short grain rice to soak up all the curry goodness. Some pickled radish as a palate cleanser

 

[The_John_Muir_Way]

I never thought I’d be cooking holiday meals like Thanksgiving, Christmas, and Easter but here I am doing it. It’s really nerve wrecking for me, but do I love helping out on these special occasions- however I can. If I make it easier on the host, I’m thinking- they’re more likely to host in the future.

For Easter Sunday, I had church so I cooked the pot roast the night prior to make things easier. I started with a nice well marbled Chuck roast. I really wanted to use brisket but they ones at the market were too small. Next time!

This pot roast is a little different from the traditional ones. I’m using fish sauce and soy sauce for extra umami. I really browned and seared the beef and then browned the mushroom. Color is flavor. Developing depth.

Garlic, onions, rosemary, thyme, red wine, soy sauce, fish sauce, bay leaves, mushrooms, Carrots, potatoes, butter, beef stock and the Chuck roast

keeping things well organized and prepped, helps my anxiety. I try to make it a foolproof as possible because I always mess something up.

Searing, browning and developing flavor

Mushrooms releasing liquid and on its way to getting browned

Onions, garlic, rosemary, thyme, bay leaves all in the pot!

 

[The_John_Muir_Way]

I’m a big fan of curries, all of them: Indian, Thai, Japanese, etc…. Each region had a different twist on it based on flavor preferences, cooking techniques, and local ingredients.

To my Indian curry is jam packed with exotic spices, very yummy. Thai curries tend to be creamier and spicy and sour at times. Japanese curry is very rich and thick. The base of it is a roux. Some optional add ons are: a grated apple, honey, ketchup, Worcestershire, butter and even chocolate. You barely taste any of that because the roux is so rich and savory.

I used boneless short rib, mushrooms, Yukon potatoes, carrots, 2 onions, and beef broth. The the flavoring- I used a Japanese roux block (most common way in Japan for naming Japanese curry) but it didn’t have enough flavor for me so I added Japanese curry powder. Grated half an apple and snacked on the other half. It lacked a little acidity so I added a little vinegar. Very savory and Rich- the sauce or gravy really fills up your mouth and coats all of the taste buds.

 

[Ozarker]

Cooking outdoors, tastier than it looks;